China's CNPC says Turkmen Amu Darya gas project output hits 17 Bcm

State-owned China National Petroleum Corp.'s Amu Darya gas project in Turkmenistan has produced 17 billion cubic meters of gas since it came online at the end of 2009, the company said Tuesday.

CNPC said the project had delivered 16.99 Bcm of gas to China since it started up on December 14, 2009. This suggests gas deliveries have averaged 12.6 million cu m/day, or roughly 444,600 Mcf/day.

This is slightly less than a third of CNPC's total gas volumes from Turkmenistan, which the company said came to 60.22 Bcm or about 1.5 Bcf/day over the same period.

Located on the right bank of the Amu Darya river in Turkmenistan, and comprising Blocks A and B, Amu Darya is CNPC's largest overseas gas project.

Other Turkmenistan fields belonging to Turkmengazi State Concern have delivered 43.23 Bcm to China over late 2009 to Monday, CNPC said.

According to the company's website, it is progressing development of the second phase of the Amu Darya project this year.

The first phase involved exploration, appraisal and development of new fields, rejuvenation and adjustment of a mature field, as well as construction of a processing plant and supporting facilities.

The Amu Darya project had produced a cumulative 12.35 Bcm of gas since start-up to September last year, CNPC said on its website.

Both CNPC and state-owned Turkmengaz signed a sales and purchase agreement in July 2007 for China to import 30 Bcm/year of Turkmen gas for 30 years. In 2008, the two companies agreed to boost the volume to 40 Bcm/year by 2015.

During a state visit to China in November 2011l, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov said he had signed a pact with Chinese President Hu Jintao to export up to 65 Bcm/year of gas to China, although no timeline was specified.

The exports are sent via the Central Asia-China pipeline network, which cuts through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before reaching China. Turkmenistan is now China's largest foreign supplier of natural gas.